Kony’s LRA resurgent as Ugandan military plans withdrawal from central Africa

A project of Invisible Children and The Resolve LRA Crisis Initiative

+ LRA abducted 344 people in CAR from January–June 2016, highest midyear figure there since 2010
+ Kony’s orders led to dozens of child abductions
+ LRA poaching group returned to DR Congo’s Garamba National Park
+ 12 women and children released from LRA captivity in June 2016

WASHINGTON (20 July 2016) – Fighters from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) abducted 344 Central Africans in the first six months of 2016, posing a resurgent threat to civilians detailed in the Midyear 2016 Security Brief, a new LRA Crisis Tracker report released today. The increase in LRA violence comes as Uganda considers withdrawing troops deployed in eastern Central African Republic (CAR) from the African Union Regional Task Force. The United Nations Security Council is also expected to renew the mandate of the UN peacekeeping operation in CAR (MINUSCA) this week.

“The international community must do more to protect civilians in eastern CAR from the LRA and other armed groups,” said Sean Poole, Director of International Programs at Invisible Children. “Failure to keep civilians safe will only embolden spoilers to peace.”

In total, the LRA abducted 498 civilians and killed 17 others during 122 attacks from January–June 2016, with nearly all attacks in eastern CAR and northern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The exceptions were two attacks in Sudanese-controlled areas of the Kafia Kingi enclave, the first credibly reported LRA attacks on civilians there since the group established a presence in the area in 2010. Since then, the Kafia Kingi area has regularly served as a safe haven for LRA leader Joseph Kony and other top LRA commanders.

LRA abductions at midyear point, 2009–2016

Among the LRA abductees in eastern CAR were 65 children, 39 of whom remain in captivity or are otherwise unaccounted for. Many of the children were abducted on direct orders given by Kony in late 2015, according to LRA fighters who defected this year. Several others were abducted by an LRA splinter group led by veteran commander Achaye Doctor, which reportedly operates independently of Kony.

38 long-term LRA dependents—women and children who have spent at least six months in LRA captivity—escaped the LRA in the first six months of 2016. They included 15 teenage boys who had likely received military training while in LRA captivity, as well as 12 women and young children who were released near Bangadi, DRC, on 9 June because they were widows or children of LRA commanders who had defected or been killed. LRA officers have periodically released groups of women and young children under similar circumstances since 2013. While the escape and release of these abductees serves as a positive development thus far in 2016, significant gaps persist in supporting the reception, reunification, and reintegration of LRA returnees.“LRA defectors consistently report that morale is at an all-time low within the rebel group,” said Paul Ronan, director of The Resolve LRA Crisis Initiative. “Donors should invest heavily in efforts to encourage LRA members to defect, as well as programs to help communities rebuild and accept returnees.”

LRA attacks and abductions have been on the rise in recent months in northern DRC. After abducting 44 civilians during 19 attacks in DRC from January–March 2016, LRA groups abducted 109 civilians during 37 attacks from April–June. The increase was due in part to the presence of an LRA poaching group in DRC’s Garamba National Park, which was likely responsible for a series of attacks on communities west and south of the park from mid-April through late May.